There once was a King who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The King looked at all the pictures, but there were only two he really liked and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains were all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky from which rain fell, in which lightening played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the King looked, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest … Perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize?
The King chose the second picture.?
Do you know why?
“Because,” explained the King, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace”.
So Personal peace is the result of:
1. Inner purity, since without submitting the body to the spirit, man will suffer inner division, and for sure, will not enjoy inner peace. Such a person will enjoy inner peace by controlling the body desires and submitting the body to the leadership of the spirit.
2. Believing that God has everything under control. It becomes a reality when we shift our focus from problems we cannot solve to a higher vision of hopefulness.
Experiencing inner peace is not limited to times of tranquility, but even during troublesome and tribulations. The person who enjoyed inner peace is able to give tranquility to others and to comfort them during their tribulations.